Thank You + Zoey at Four Months + Recent Eats

Thanks so much for your kind messages and comments on my post yesterday about Sam. It meant a lot to me and my mom always reads the comments so I know she was touched as well.

It always feels weird to just pick up and resume normal life after something so sad happens. Before I get into my post for today, let’s take a moment to celebrate a new life.

Today is Zoey’s four month birthday. The picture to the left was taken right at two months. She’s changing so much every day. I’ll write a more in depth update post about her soon. She brings me so much joy and was so sweet and cuddly towards me when I was upset about Sam. It’s crazy how intuitive and sensitive they are about human emotions, even at such a young age.

Caprese quiche with tomatoes and smoked mozzarella with a side of fresh fruit and black coffee at The Mayobird. (Yes, I’ve already made a return trip!)

Peanut butter, honey and banana sandwich and a salad.

Soup and salad. Important note: this soup was Carrot Almond from the Imagine Organic brand from Whole Foods. I bought two boxes of their soup on special 2/$6 this week and will be returning both of them (the other was tomato basil). They are flavorless and watery. I couldn’t even get this down it was so bad. Has anyone else tried these soups? Pretty much the only pre-made boxed soups I like are from Trader Joe’s.

Teriyaki turkey burgers with Sriracha aioli and avocado, roasted carrots and mushrooms and kale chips. These turkey burgers were awesome. I will post the recipe soon.

Greek-style sautéed chicken breasts with feta, kalamata olives and artichokes. On the side was leftover lentils and zucchini and squash “noodles.” I broke out the spiralizer for the first time and loved it! Can’t wait to play around with it more.

After cooking homemade meals Sunday-Wednesday, I turned to something super simple Thursday night. I baked a barbecue chicken frozen pizza from Whole Foods. It was delicious! I also had a random side of green peas but that wasn’t worth taking a picture of.

Do you have any favorite spiralizer recipes or ways to enjoy “zoodles?”

I had the most somber look on my face when I read the post of your loss. Praying for all of you!! You too Mom!!

I wanted to let you know my sister Ann (I told you about her….. a breast cancer survivor and expecting their first at age 42). Well little Evan, named after my 99 year old grandma. is doing well. Thank you for your good thoughts!!

Finally, I’m trying a rowing workout in the am that you posted a while back. Wish me luck; it’s the 500 meter one!!

I still haven’t bought a spiralizer. I always order zoodles when offered in restaurants but never feel like making it at home! I should though…And ugh, nothing worse than buying something thinking it will be good and then it’s gross. I agree that TJ’s soups are the best (and I don’t even love soup). I do buy the TJ Low Sodium Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup which is great.

Love seeing pics of cute Zoey!
Question for you: When you take pictures of your dinner, how do you set your camera or what settings do you use? During the day, natural light makes photography a lot easier, but I’m just getting into photography and haven’t been able to figure out how to take quick dinner snapshots when the light’s gone!

hey liv! i totally agree that it’s easier to shoot in natural light but i rarely get the chance to shoot dinner in natural light…even in the summer! honestly, i just shoot in the kitchen and edit a ton in post to brighten it up and sharpen it. i don’t even use a lightbox or anything…too much trouble! biggest tip is not to use the flash…it blows the food out!

Zoodles are my new favorite way to eat zucchini!! I recently made a big pot of Chicken Zoodle Soup – instead of using real pasta/noodles, I dropped in some spiralized zucchini and it was amazing. I may never have chicken soup with pasta ever again! Also a plus, the zoodles did not get soggy or soft in the soup broth the next day 🙂

I'm Jen and I'm a personal trainer, yoga teacher and the author of Ultimate Plank Fitness and The Complete Guide to Yoga Inversions. I live in Charlotte, NC and share daily updates about food, fitness, yoga and life with two golden retrievers! You can reach me at jen@peanutbutterrunner.com.